


Dream in a Dream

by poramarte



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Asexual Character, Choose Your Own Ending, M/M, Mentions of Sex, yeehaw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-23
Updated: 2019-09-23
Packaged: 2020-10-26 23:15:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20750378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poramarte/pseuds/poramarte
Summary: Wolf presentations always brought about change, but Mark didn't expect to feel his blood run south after his best friend presented and he certainly didn't expect to give a young alpha advice about the very man that plagues his (wet) dreams.





	Dream in a Dream

**Author's Note:**

> This is unbeta'd so just a warning. I didn't read the entire thing put together cause I knew I'd regret posting it so yeehaw.
> 
> EDIT 5/1/2020: I did some minor editing, basically fixed grammar mistakes and such, nothing major has changed. I probably didn't catch all my mistakes though, I suck at english.

Things had been weird to say the least. It had been a few months since Donghyuck had presented and Mark didn’t know how to feel.

Nothing had really changed with Donghyuck, he was still his really annoying and bubby best friend but at the same time everything seemed to be different. There were so many things that Mark didn’t know if he just simply hadn’t noticed before or if they were things that came with being a newly presented omega. He found himself staring at Donghyuck’s thighs whenever he saw him walk by and having to catch himself from creaming his pants when his imagination got too vivid, imagining Donghyucks thighs wrapped around his head as he sucked his wetness dry. His hips were sinful and when he saw Donghyuck bend over slightly he had to resist the urge to pull down Donghyuck’s pants and breed him in front of the members and sometimes the camera (with Donghyuck’s consent of course). His face was so pretty and all he wanted to do was smear his cum on his lip and have Donghyuck taste him. And his scent, it was just so nice. 

Wolves were prone to trying to guess what they would present as and what they’d smelled like, when they were trainees all the other trainees had said Donghyuck would be a beta and he’d smell like sunshine, whatever the hell that means. Personally Mark had always thought Donghyuck would be an Alpha and he would smell like spring, which was a weird combination since male Alpha’s usually have “masculine” smells. Usually at least, Mark himself was a testimony that wasn’t always the case, he smelled like watermelons and that caused a lot of people to mistake him for an Omega, he wasn’t ashamed of it, in fact he liked that he smelled like watermelons. Everyone knows he loves watermelons.

When Mark had woken up with the pungent scent of maple syrup and the smell of an omega obviously in heat he knew it was Donghyuck, they were in the 127 dorm and Donghyuck was the only member in 127 and also in the 00 line that hadn’t presented, so it was unmistakable. 

He could smell the source had left but Johnny had to stop Mark outside of Jaehyun and Donghyuck’s room, from going in and rutting against Donghyuck’s bed. Johnny told him he should go hang out with the Dreamies while they air the dorm out and Mark was embarrassed to say the least. He had presented almost two years ago when he was 17, he wasn’t a new alpha he should have been able to keep himself from acting on instinct. 

When Donghyuck had come back a few days later with a glow on his face, Mark had almost ran into a wall upon getting a whiff of the omega, the scent of heat slightly lingered on Donghyuck and it made Mark feel clammy but he got himself under control before he felt the need to relieve himself. Donghyuck didn’t bat an eyelash so Mark assumed he didn’t notice. It was slightly awkward, the omegas of 127 flocked around Donghyuck, all the alphas felt more protective over him and the betas were a mix of both. 

Mark didn’t know what to do. He was on the fence between going to the studio and working on some songs to take his mind off of things or staying and welcoming Donghyuck back. He ended up staying not wanting Donghyuck to think he was mad.

Donghyuck invaded Mark’s dreams and thoughts, whereas before Mark wouldn’t have wet dreams or fantasies, now Mark either woke up hard or with his boxers soiled with cum. Donghyuck wanted to cuddle, to sleep in the same bed but Mark was scared he would wake up with Donghyuck disgusted by Mark rutting his swollen knot against his plump ass. Donghyuck butt had grown considerably when he presented and Mark wanted to slide his dick between his cheeks. 

Mark didn’t push Donghyuck away, Donghyuck was slightly more sensitive than before and Mark didn’t want to hurt his feelings, it was very likely Donghyuck would cry and Mark didn’t want to see that. Instead he only allowed Donghyuck to cuddle with him when Mark could be conscious of his actions and not do anything inappropriate that Mark wouldn’t be able to cover up. 

Mark had always been an alpha with more control than most, when he had presented he had only ever smelled a few omegas that would make heat coil in his belly and his dick slightly perk up in interest but he’d never popped a boner from the scent of an omega alone. He needed porn to jack off and wasn’t the type to be able to get off only from a picture. He wasn’t sexual in nature, he’d had sex and enjoyed it, but he’d never yearned for it, if he never had it again he wouldn’t feel like he missed out. That’s why it was confusing to have all these feelings for Donghyuck. He’s never seen someone and felt the need to breed them, he’s never wanted to leave hickeys high up on someone's neck so everyone could see them, he’d never been able to get off in the shower from the thought of an omega thrusting their hips to the cherry bomb chorus. It felt like he was presenting all over again, he wasn’t able to control his hormones well around Donghyuck, he was obsessed and he didn’t know who to ask that would actually give him valuable advice. 

\----

After Mark had graduated from Dream it wasn’t unheard of that he would still hang out with Dream, he tried not to when they were practicing or recording, they needed to develop their new group/pack dynamic now that Mark was no longer there. On this particular day Renjun had said he wanted Mark to see their dance and criticize it from a viewers perspective, before they showed it to their choreographer. The Dream comeback was set for August but 127 had a small break from the tour at the end of May, it was mostly to promote Superhuman, but Donghyuck was using it to learn the dance for Boom as well. Donghyuck was stressed, he still had some pain from his leg whenever he danced for too long and Mark was constantly worried that Donghyuck would get injured again from overworking. Donghyuck had always been the member that took care of himself the most, he never missed stretches, warm ups or cool downs and most importantly he was the most cautious. Donghyuck wasn't supposed to get injured easily but he did and that worried Mark.

The boys were taking a break from practicing and Mark was still sitting in the same corner he watched the boys dance from, he was sleepy and not really in the mood to be overly active with the rest of Dream. Jisung came to sit with him, they didn’t really speak at first, Jisung had never been the type to speak during practice breaks, always preferred to chill and regain energy.

“Hyung?” Jisung asked and he let out a hum, not feeling the need to respond. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.” He remained slumped on the wall, but made sure he gave Jisung his full attention.

“Hyung do you think I have a chance with him.” He knew Jisung was looking at the rest of Dream, but he didn’t bother looking at who Jisung was talking about in particular, he just assumed it was Chenle. The two had always had an interesting and friendly dynamic and they made sense.

“It’s tough to say, you’d probably have to wait until he presents until you know for sure if your wolf likes him.” Mark knew for a fact that Chenle had a small crush on Jisung, Chenle had told Mark at their last performance as Dream and it wasn't necessarily shocking. He’d always thought they saw each other as brothers, but he’d always caught Chenle’s lingering gazes and touches. But it wasn’t a concern yet, Chenle hadn’t presented and alot changed when a wolf matured.

“Hyung I'm not talking about Chenle,” At that Mark snapped his head up and realized Jisung was in fact not looking at Chenle. Instead he was looking at Donghyuck and Mark felt his heart sink. 

Mark didn’t know if he liked Donghyuck, he had recently found Donghyuck sexually attractive but he wasn’t sure if he liked him. The possibility of Jisung liking the omega made him antsy in a way he shouldn’t be. He knew Jisung had liked Donghyuck when they were younger, Jisung always used to follow Donghyuck around and blush more than usual when Donghyuck called him cute when they were trainees and also in their first year as Dream. He never found out if Donghyuck had known about it, not finding it his place to expose Jisung for something like puppy love. 

“You’re his best friend, do you know if he’s into Alpha’s? The omegas never talk about that kind of stuff when I'm around and neither do the Alphas, you know cause of the rut thing, they think I’ll get uncomfortable and Chenle would tell everyone if I even suggest I like Hyuck,” Jisung said, his voice low but not exactly a whisper.

“I don’t actually know if he does, we haven’t really talked about liking people ever since I presented, I’m sorry Jisung.” He felt bad, he didn’t want Jisung to think he was shutting him out like most of the other members had because Jisung had said he wasn’t into the whole idea of sex. They didn’t do it on purpose, but most of the hyungs weren’t close to the dreamies to begin with and most alpha gossip was about who likes who (and who fucked who). 

Jisung had presented at a young age, he was 16, it was in the beginning of January a little less than a month left until his 17th birthday but still at the age of 16. Usually Alpha’s get their first rut when they presented, it didn’t always happen that way, Jaehyun and Lucas hadn’t gotten their ruts until 5 months after they presented. And it wasn’t uncommon for very young alphas to not get their rut when they presented, but if it was going to come it usually came within 6 months.

Jisung had been invited to an “Alphas night” with all the alpha members and when they had asked how he was controlling himself so well around all the pretty omegas, Jisung had said he didn’t really feel any urges. It should have been left at that but Jaemin had decided to pester him until Jisung said he had never really thought about sex, it wasn’t something that called to him and he certainly didn’t think he’d ever have it. Jaemin had mentioned something like that Jisungs rut would probably change him mind and Jisung had gotten mad saying that asexual alphas exist.

It wasn’t uncommon but rarely talked about. Most of society viewed ruts as what made an alpha a “real alpha”. Mark never liked the whole idea of being a “real alpha”, it made him feel boxed in, why should something like a scent or something so primitive and intimate like a rut be the symbolism for an alpha. Why did their sex or sexual drive have to determine how they acted in life or were expected to act, not every alpha had to feel the need to jump every pretty omega to be a “real alpha”, Mark felt such behavior was fit for child, alphas should be able to control themselves.

“It’s alright hyung. I just felt like I should ask before I repress my feelings for him. He won’t like a defective alpha anyway.” Mark knew Jisung was insecure, it came with being a teenager and being an idol, they were always surrounded by so many talented people and even if you knew your worth it was hard not to compare yourself to others. After presenting he knew how easy it was to unconsciously compare yourself to someone like Johnny, who looked exactly like you would expect an alpha to look like. Omegas flocked around alphas like Johnny and were much more hesitant around alphas like Mark or Jisung.

“Jisung you know, you're not defective, don’t think like that, there’s nothing wrong with you.” Jisung gave him a half hearted smile and Mark knew he didn’t effectively comfort Jisung. Mark was going to pull him into a hug when Renjun said they should return to practice, Mark tried to at least squeeze his hand to give him some comfort but Jisung just shook his head when he reached for it. Mark felt bad that Jisung had come to him with his troubles and he didn’t do anything to make him feel less alone. 

\---

It was hard to find a time to talk to Jisung, 127 had so many little promotions and it always felt like whenever he had some free time something else would pop up. Thinking about having a proper conversation with Jisung about all things alpha kept his mind off his growing problem with Donghyuck, it seemed like Donghyuck was even more clingy with each passing day not just with him but with everyone. He had to remind himself that not every wolf wanted to jump a recently presented fertile omega, if anything the hyungs looked largely unaffected by Donghyuck’s clinginess. Donghyuck clinging on to him just reminded him that he needed to talk to Jisung as soon as possible, even if he himself hadn’t figured out how he felt about Donghyuck. 

He found Jisung alone in a practice room, Jisung noticed him as soon as he walked in but Jisung didn’t stop dancing until the song was over. He had always liked to watch Jisung dance, Jisung moved like he had been made to dance and it was breathtaking. Everyone in NCT was a good dancer but only a few were what he would consider dancers. He had never felt like dance was second nature, he had to think about his moves before he did them and someone like Jisung just danced without thinking, letting the beat guide him.

“Hey hyung, what’s up.” Jisung sat down in front of him, he wasn’t out of breath so it made him think that Jisung hadn’t been practicing for long.

“I wanted to talk to you about the other day, you confessed some stuff and I feel like I wasn’t as supportive as I should have been, I know how Jeno and Jaemin haven’t really been there for you and I didn’t want to make you feel like I wasn’t there for you too. I am, we just haven’t talked about this kind of thing before and I haven’t in general and I wasn’t sure how to react to you opening up to me. I didn’t want you to think that I didn’t think you had a chance because you weren’t a real alpha. It's just not true, nothing in particular makes an alpha a “real alpha”, it shouldn’t be a thing either because you shouldn’t have to fit into a mold to be deemed something that you can’t even control.” 

He was rarely good with words when he hadn’t thought about something for a while, he was prone to stuttering when randomly asked a question, but he’d thought about what exactly he wanted to tell Jisung and what he wanted Jisung to know about their friendship and Mark’s stance on alphas.

“Thank you hyung, for making sure that I was okay. I was being dumb, I know you weren’t suggesting any of that, it’s not your fault you didn’t know the answer to my question. It was just a really big deal for me to tell you because I don’t know who else to tell, the hyungs haven’t been very helpful and I can’t tell Chenle anything without half of NCT finding out within minutes and the other half finding out from Lucas accidentally letting it slip. This isn't necessarily something I'm okay with the rest of NCT knowing at least not if he doesn't like me back.”

“If you want to talk about him you can, if you don’t want to either that's fine. Just know that thinking you're not alpha enough shouldn’t be a reason to stop you from pursuing your feelings.”

“I know hyung. I don’t think he sees me like that anyways, he always calls me a baby, it makes me kind of mad. I presented before him if anything he’s the baby!” Mark laughed, there was always a grey line on who was considered a minor and who wasn’t. 

“You’re right, he is a baby, but you’re still young.”

“I’ve just really liked him for a really long time and I thought I was finally over it and then he presented and my wolf really likes him too and I don’t know what to do, I don’t think I’ll be able to be around him if he rejects me.” If Mark thought about it, he’d never genuinely liked anyone, sure there was the time he and Yerim “dated”, also the time Mina kissed him on his last day as MC of Music Core. But he’d never liked someone to the point that he would cry if they rejected him or they broke up in Yerim’s case. So he gave the best advice he could given his experience.

“It’s not the end of the world if he does reject you. I don’t want to give you false hope but if your wolf likes him, it’s usually a good sign.” Mark’s wolf liked Donghyuck, was that a good sign?

“I know but alot of the world revolves around sex and I don’t know if I’d ever be able to deliver and I don’t want to take anything away from him.”

“Even if you can’t, you’ll find someone that doesn’t care. Maybe that someone will be Hyuck, but maybe it won’t. You’re young and someone liking you for who you are shouldn’t be a big worry, things will play out naturally.”

\---

It was 9 months after Jisung presented that he got his rut, in true Chenle fashion, he “accidentally” texted it in the NCT 2019 groupchat instead of the Dream one. The boy really didn’t know how to keep a secret and it showed. Everyone was asking the dreamies questions and by the time Mark saw the text he had more than 400 messages on his phone. 

It made him feel sick that the other alphas asked if Jisung smelled aroused, it wasn’t their business if he was or wasn’t and he was upset to find Taeyong also asking questions instead of shutting it down. So he sent a text clearly telling them that it wasn’t their business, if Jisung wanted to share the details of his rut then he would. He also sent one in the Dream group chat telling the alpha’s (+Chenle) that it wasn’t okay to gossip about Jisung’s private life. 

He let it be known to the rest of the alpha’s that he was upset and had found their behavior unacceptable. He understood until a certain point their curiosity about Jisung, as much as he didn’t like thinking of Jisung as different, he was and it was natural to be curious about things that were different. But Jisung was still just a wolf and for them to treat him like a spectacle was uncalled for and rude. 

“It was nice what you did for Jisung, I tried to get them to stop talking about it but they wouldn’t, alpha’s don’t really like listening to omegas I guess.” Donghyuck had plopped down on Mark’s bed next to him. Donghyuck didn’t really come into his room nowadays, he said the scent of alpha was too overpowering and bothered his nose. Doyoung and Jaehyun had switched rooms now that Donghyuck had presented as an omega, Taeyong thought it would be safer for everyone that way.

“That’s not what it is, I don’t have a problem listening to omegas and neither should other alpha’s. Your sex shouldn’t determine your social status and the hyungs know that, so its just disgusting.” Mark sighed, he honestly hated Alphas.

“It might not be a great time with what happened with Jisung but I wanted to talk to you about him. He’s been acting really weird lately, well not weird, but kind of different. I don’t know how to describe it, I don’t want to get the wrong idea, so I wanted to know if you knew if something was up.”

“He hasn’t mentioned anything in particular. What do you mean by getting the wrong idea, has he done anything wrong?” He didn’t want to expose Jisung on accident so he was trying to keep it vague. He wasn’t lying to Donghyuck, Jisung hadn’t mentioned acting differently or doing anything different, so it’s not like he could tell Donghyuck why Jisung was acting differently.

“Not really, it’s just that he’s been more considerate I guess, like before he’d just push me away and he’d call me ugly and now he doesn’t and he’s been giving me things. Like nothing big just like he’ll buy candy he knows I like or he’ll buy me a drink, and he’s just been acting kind of shy. I just think he might be courting me and I don’t know what to do with that information.”

“Do you want him to court you?” As much as he didn’t want to know the answer to his question he knew that it would allow him to give better advice to Jisung if he asked about it.

“I don’t know, I’ve never really thought about him as anything but my dongsaeng, and he’s a little young for me, so I’d feel kind of like a perv. He’s also never talked to me about his sexuality so there’s just so much that I don’t know about him for me to be able to accurately judge if I’d even consider pursuing him. I don’t know if we’ve even had a conversation that actually held some substance, we’ve only ever joked around. I don’t want to hurt his feelings if he is courting me but I also don’t know what I’d say if he asked to officially court me.”

“If his intentions are to court you then I think being honest with him would be the best course of action honestly, if you don’t know, then you don’t. Just don’t lead him on, he doesn’t need that. Especially with how everyone has been treating him lately.” 

\----

The realization that he did in fact like Donghyuck came when Jisung walked into the Dream dorm two weeks after his rut had started. The first rut was always longer than the rest but usually only lasted about a week at the most, it wasn’t rare for them to last longer especially if it was a young alpha and given how the scent of a rut surrounded Jisung he could tell it had ended either that morning or the night before. 

The second he saw Jisungs eye connect with Donghyuck, his wolf screamed mine, and it took all of his self control not to growl at Jisung. It wasn’t the same as when his wolf wanted to claim Donghyuck just because he was fertile omega, he could feel the way his wolf yearned to mate with Donghyuck, he could feel how threatened it felt knowing that Jisung was a step ahead of and when an oblivious Jisung step forward with a candy bar he knew Jisung was intending to give to Donghyuck. 

His wolf wanted to grab the candy bar and shove it down Jisungs throat, but Mark had self control and simply resisted the urge to wrap his arms around Donghyuck to warn the alpha that Donghyuck was his, because Donghyuck wasn’t. Donghyuck wasn’t an item and denying Donghyuck the choice to reject or accept Jisung’s courting gift was not something he ever wanted to do. 

“Manager hyung took me out for a walk this morning and I got you this,” Jisung had an awkward smile on his face but it was endearing nonetheless, if he ignored his wolf he could feel the tug on his heart strings.

“I should be the one getting you things, you just spent two weeks in hell. But thank you Jisung, it’s very thoughtful of you.” He tried not to growl, he knew it wasn’t his place to decide what Donghyuck did, but it was hard especially when he was feeling things that he hadn’t realized he felt before.

“Hyung I wanted to talk to you, do you mind Mark?” He shook his head. He was a firm believer that if it was meant to be then it would happen, sure, he was hesitant. Donghyuck had had time to think about how he felt about Jisung, so there was a stronger chance that he would accept Jisung’s courting. As walked back to the 127 dorm he didn’t feel like he made the wrong choice, Donghyuck was his own person and he couldn’t let himself forget that he wasn’t anyone’s property. Later that day Jisung sent him a text of a thumbs up and a smiley face, Mark’s heart sank, knowing Jisung’s text could only mean one thing. 

\---

The rest of his members said his scent had changed, they said before he smelled sweet, but now he smelled ripened, Mark figured it was the smell of heartbreak. He couldn’t tell the difference but the omega’s could, Sicheng was back in the dorm and where as before Sicheng had never looked at Mark as more than a dongsaeng, now Mark could tell he was the next knot Sicheng was planning to take. And when Sicheng approached him in a suspiciously empty dorm he let him feel him up and he let Sicheng have his way with him. 

It became a regular thing, Sicheng would somehow find him when he was alone in his room or in a practice room and he would wrap himself around Mark and let Mark fuck him into the mattress or against a mirror in the practice room, or on the couch Mark practice his guitar on. He knew that the rest of the members knew what was going on, Sicheng had always been known to mess around with the older members and Sicheng wasn't one to kiss and tell, but the members knew the signs of when Sicheng had made a new friend. 

Mark had never been a very sexual person, he'd never had a wet dream until Donghyuck presented and he hadn't fantasized about knotting omegas until he had caught a whiff of what Donghyuck smelled like in heat. He had heard talk from the other wolves (Sicheng swung all ways) about what Sicheng could do, but it had never interested him before. He wasn't a virgin before Sicheng but Sicheng really knew what he was doing and it was helpful to keep his mind off of Jisung and Donghyuck's relationship. 

From what he could tell, much hadn't happened, it had been a month and the other members weren't aware, which Mark thought was good because 19 people, plus the managers knowing too many details at such a critical stage in the courting process wasn't usually good. Jisung had sent him updates on his phone but they weren’t particularly insightful, they weren’t dating but they were spending a lot more time together, how Chenle hadn’t noticed and said anything in the 2019 group chat, Mark had no idea. 

Donghyuck had been sending looks of disapproval whenever Sicheng was around, which was honestly confusing because Donghyuck was never one to slutshame anyone especially when it concerned Sicheng. Not all of the other members approved of the fact Sicheng was pansexual and they especially didn’t approve of the fact that Sicheng had slept with over half of NCT (strangely enough said members had slept with Sicheng too and were extremely possessive, hypocrites). Sicheng had laughed when Donghyuck had scoffed at Sicheng walking in and sitting on Mark’s lap when Donghyuck had been talking to Mark on the coach.

“There’s a whole other coach over there, must you sit on Mark’s dick every change you get.” Sicheng didn’t look phased if anything he looked amused. Mark wanted to disappear at the thought of the two omegas fighting.

“Mark likes it best when I sit on him, Hyuckie.” Mark knew Donghyuck wanted Sicheng to get mad, he could tell by the way he looked irritated by Sicheng's response. 

Nobody had ever seen Sicheng mad, the closest they’d seen him to angry was when Yuta had yelled at him for having sex with Taeil when he was having sex with Yuta. Yuta had called him an emotionless whore and Sicheng had just calmly said that for what it was worth he liked him too but he would never date someone that didn’t respect him for who he was. After that Yuta had tried to win Sicheng’s heart back but Sicheng had just ignored any attempt Yuta made to court him (“I’m an emotionless whore remember”), but even then Sicheng hadn’t been mad, he’d been hurt more than anything.

“Mark doesn’t even like you Winwinie.” All Sicheng did was shrug, he smiled at Donghyuck and rested his head on Mark's shoulder.

“I don’t like Mark either, but Mark does know how to please an omega.” Sicheng leaned up into Mark’s ear and whispered for only Mark to hear. “I’m free all afternoon, you know where to find me if you’re in the mood, I'll suck you off.”

Sicheng kissed the corner of Mark’s lip when he left. Mark could feel himself getting hard off the thought of Sicheng wrapping his pretty lips around his cock and he grabbed a pillow to hide his problems not before he caught Donghyuck staring at his dick.

“I can’t believe you’re fucking him.” He caught the way Donghyuck shifted uncomfortably and Mark tried not to assume anything.

“Why not, he’s hot.” He didn’t like the way Donghyuck was acting, it wasn’t his problem who Mark or Sicheng fucked, they were both consenting adults. And if they wanted to have sex with eachother then they should be able to.

“I just pegged you as the type that’d wait for their mate.” Sex wasn’t a topic they had discuss before, Mark found it awkward to talk about his experiences and Donghyuck having never brought it up.

“Virginity is a social construct and you know that. Losing something that society made up wouldn’t make making love to my mate any more or any less special, that is if my mate wants sex at all.”

“What if your mate didn’t want sex, would you be hesitant?” He knew the question was about Jisung and he regretted ever getting involved, he should have shut down Donghyuck’s questions about Jisung, he didn’t want to hear his crush talking about another alpha, even if it was Jisung.

“No, sex isn’t essential to life, if they don’t want sex, then there is nothing I’d rather do then respect their wishes.”

\---

Sicheng started having sex with Ten a month after they had started, Mark wasn’t offended. He knew how Sicheng was and unlike Yuta he didn’t mind, instead liking the fact that he could see the hickies Ten left on Sicheng, Mark liked seeing Sicheng covered in hickies and painted with his cum. 

Sicheng was just so different from Donghyuck, that he didn’t find himself fantasizing about Donghyuck anymore. He tried not to think about Donghyuck’s problem with Jisung’s libido, he didn’t want their relationship to end because of Jisung’s sexuality, he had told Donghyuck not lead Jisung on and he couldn’t help but think that’s what Donghyuck was doing.

He had Sicheng perched on his lap with his tongue down Sicheng’s throat, he wasn’t hard, it was one of those rare times where he could tell Sicheng wasn’t really up for sex and he wasn’t either, sometimes they’d just make out and cuddle afterwards and talk. All that was gone when he heard his door open and someone squeak, Sicheng was quick to pull away from the kiss and smiled at the shocked Jisung standing frozen at the door.

“Did you need to talk to Mark?” Sicheng was already getting off of Mark’s lap and he appreciated it, he didn’t want to traumatize Jisung any further.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt, I can leave.”

“It’s fine Jisung, we weren’t doing anything important, I’ll just go find Ten, don’t worry Sungie.” He ruffled Jisung’s hair as he walked out and Jisung blushed.

“I’m sorry you had to see that, I forgot to lock the door.” Mark was kind of embarrassed, he’d never been walked in on and to have poor Jisung walk in on him made him embarrassed.

“It’s my fault hyung, I should have knocked. I forgot you and Sicheng were like that.” He felt his face get red, he knew the hyungs knew about him and Sicheng, but he didn’t know that Dream actually knew that Sicheng was very sexually active.

“Did you want to talk about something Jisung?” Jisung was silent, he knew Jisung did need to talk to him, he only ever came looking for him if he really needed to tell him something, otherwise Jisung would have just texted.

“I think I have to break up with Donghyuck.” Mark tried to hide his surprise but he knew he probably didn’t do a really good job. “I didn’t mean to say break up, we aren’t actually dating, but I think I need to stop courting him.”

“I’m assuming you want to talk to me about it if you came to see me.” Jisung gave a slow nod. “Why do you need to stop courting him? I thought you liked him a lot.”

“I do…”

“I can hear a but.”

“What am I supposed to do when he’s in heat and he’s asking for a knot? How am I supposed to take care of him, when I couldn’t even get it up during my rut? I’m much better off finding a beta, they don’t have heats.”

“Jisung, you’re not the first asexual alpha, let alone the first asexual wolf. You don’t have to give up the wolf you like just because you don’t want sex.”

“I know that hyung, but I can’t ask him to suffer through his heats just because I’m defective.”

“You’re not defective, we’ve already gone over this. I think you need to give Donghyuck the benefit of the doubt, a knot isn’t what an omega craves in heat, it’s their mate. If you are his mate, his wolf will accept you, all of you, and it won’t ask anything of you that you’re uncomfortable with.”

“And what if I’m not his mate?”

“Then you’re not, it doesn’t have to be complicated, but I do suggest you talk to him before you make any decisions.” Jisung didn’t look convinced so he continued. “Did something happen for you to have these thoughts?”

“Yes and no… I’ve always had them, it’s the main reason I didn’t want to court him… but he kissed me. We’ve only ever done like little pecks but this time he climbed onto my lap and he was like making out with me. I was fine with it, it was nice, but at some point he started tugging on my shirt like he wanted me to take it off, and it would have been fine but I realized he was wet and I panicked. I told him to stop and he did. He apologized, he told me he didn’t want to overstep my boundaries and I ran away, I didn’t know what to do. I think he hates me.”

“He doesn’t hate you, but you do need to talk to him. You’re not giving him a chance to prove himself and you can't run away because you dabbled into uncharted territory. Talk to him and then decide if you want to stop courting him, but don’t let it be because you’re insecure. You’ll probably regret it if you let your insecurities consume you.”

“Thanks hyung,” Jisung looked like he wanted to ask something, Mark motioned for Jisung to continue. “Do you like Sicheng?”

“It would make things complicated if I did like him, Yuta would dislike me more than he already does. But no, I don’t like him at least not more than a friend.”

“I heard the omega’s saying that it was rare for Sicheng to be around a wolf for so long, you know in that way. I just don’t want you guys to hurt each other, you’re both very closed off.”

“Don’t worry about it Jisung, we know what we’re doing.” Mark wasn’t really sure what he was doing but Sicheng did and that was enough for him.

\---

They were nearing the end of the year, they were a week away from the end of the year performances, there wasn’t much time to do anything but practice. Sicheng would be performing with them and Mark was happy, he wanted Sicheng to come back to 127 but he knew Sicheng was happy in WayV. Sicheng was never able to express himself in 127 and seeing Sicheng blossom in a way he never had in his two years in 127 made Mark feel proud and ashamed. He felt like 127 had been caging Sicheng, he knew Sicheng had been unhappy, but he never realized how much until he saw Sicheng able to fully understand and speak when he wanted to interview. 

“I think I like you,” Mark froze, they were squished together on Mark’s twin bed, Sicheng was naked and Mark had put on his boxers after cleaning both of their messes up. Mark had seen it coming, one of Sicheng “flings” never lasted more than a month at a time, he had even stopped sleeping with Ten three weeks after he started. 

Sicheng was a creature of habit and he knew something had to be different for Sicheng to still be sleeping with him almost three months after the initial time Sicheng jumped him in the living room. “Don’t worry, I know you like someone else, I just thought I should let you know. I don’t want you to think I’m taking advantage of you.”

“I know what I’m doing, you’re definitely not taking advantage of me.” Mark looked at Sicheng but Sicheng was looking towards Jaehyun’s bed. 

He wanted to tell Sicheng a lot of things, Sicheng was one of the most important wolves in his life, even before they started messing around. All of the foreign members were close in an inexplicable way, even Sicheng and Mark, neither spoke the same native tongue, but it was easy to identify with Sicheng’s struggle in more ways than one. 

Mark’s struggle with korean was similar to Sicheng’s struggle with hip hop, even though Mark grow up speaking korean with his family, he didn’t grow up surrounded by people that only spoke korean, so where as the korean-born members didn’t have a lack of fluidity when speaking korean Mark did. 

Sicheng has been dancing all of his life, he’s a better dancer then most of NCT, he is a dancer unlike Mark, but Sicheng was trained to dance a dance style completely different than what NCT demanded, people thought Sicheng simply wasn’t good at dancing, but anyone that had actually seen him dance knew he held a beauty when he danced that not even Ten had. When Mark saw him dance for NCT he didn’t see him and think Sicheng was awkward, he knew Sicheng style was about lines and shapes, and NCT’s was about crisp and preciseness, Sicheng dance wasn’t about being quick and fast, it was about being elegant, graceful, and Sicheng held his grace even when not dancing. 

Sicheng was often misunderstood, there were many situations Sicheng had been in that Sicheng could have let his anger get the best of him and Sicheng never did. Sicheng wasn’t the type to wear his heart on his sleeve, at least not if you didn’t know his tells, some members thought Sicheng didn’t care about anyone, that he only cared about sleeping with certain members. But Mark knew Sicheng, and he knew Sicheng cared about all of them, even when they shared their unkind opinions on Sicheng’s (sex) life. 

Sicheng was unapologetically who he was, he was both the most loved and most hated member of NCT and it boiled down to the same reason, he was an omega so near yet so unattainable. He was a cute guy, everyone wanted to take care of him, but there was a fine line between caring about someone and feeling entitled to someone and Sicheng was nobodies omega. 

Mark didn’t think sex ruined a friendship, it just got messy when feeling got involved, but him and Sicheng weren’t pups, Sicheng knew Mark wouldn’t like him back, at least not now and wouldn’t kill three years of friendship because he forget the reality of the situation. In a perfect world, Mark would like Sicheng back and Mark wouldn’t have been in love with Donghyuck ever since he could remember, Jisung would be accepted easily for who he was and he wouldn’t have to beat himself up over something as simple as making out with his boyfriend. 

But they weren’t in a perfect world, Sicheng liked Mark, Mark loved Donghyuck, and Jisung and Donghyuck’s relationship was just a mystery to Mark, if Donghyuck even truly like Jisung was still up in the air.

“I think we should stop, we’re going back to China soon and I don’t want to make things awkward because I caught feelings when I know I shouldn’t have,” Sicheng took a deep breath. “I know you like to keep yourself guarded so if you want to talk about Donghyuck you can talk about him with me, I know about him and Jisung.”

“How’d you find out?” Sicheng would never tell anyone about Donghyuck and Jisung, it wasn’t his place and Sicheng knew that, Sicheng finding out didn’t really raise any alarm in Mark.

“Jisung isn’t as slick as he thinks he is, the rest of the guys are just dumb. Regardless if you need someone to talk to, I'm always here, even if I’m in China, my feelings don’t have to get in the way of our friendship. I just didn’t want to feel like I was lying to you.”

Sicheng wasn’t lying to him, his feelings were his and if Sicheng wanted to share then Mark was honored more than anything. It meant Sicheng trusted him enough to know that Mark wouldn’t make a big deal out of Sicheng catching feelings, that Mark wouldn’t change the dynamic of their friendship because Sicheng shared his feelings.

“I know you’re always there hyung and I’m always there for you too, I wouldn’t let anyone or anything change our friendship.” Mark meant what he said and he knew Sicheng believed him. He knows a lot of other people’s friendship wouldn’t survive something like what Sicheng confessed to him, but for them it wasn’t a blow to their relationship, instead it would be something that would make them stronger. And Mark knew talking about his feelings for Donghyuck with Sicheng wouldn’t hurt Sicheng because Jisung talking about his feelings for Donghyuck didn’t hurt him. Mark and Sicheng had always been similar in more ways than one.

\---

“I heard about you and Sicheng.” He suspected that Donghyuck would talk to him about Sicheng sooner or later, he knew that the others had theories, why, Mark wasn’t sure, it’s not like they expected Mark to have sex with Sicheng when Sicheng was literally in China.

“Oh,” Mark knew Donghyuck couldn’t have heard much and whatever he had heard probably wasn’t even completely accurate, Sicheng rarely talked to anyone about his private life. Sicheng was a private person and telling the wrong person in NCT something intimate would result in everyone including the managers knowing and Sicheng would never risk that. “What did you hear?”

“Not much, the guys think you broke each other's hearts, Sicheng hasn’t been himself since he left Korea and you haven’t either. The guys are taking bets on who broke whose heart, Yuta’s mad of course, says he’s going to kill you if you broke Sicheng’s heart, like he didn’t literally yell at Sicheng last year. Sometimes I really hate Yuta.” They looked at each other for a second and that’s all it took for Mark to know what Donghyuck really wanted to say, what he wanted to ask Mark, and Mark wasn’t sure if he’d answer Donghyuck if he asked. “I don't think you guys broke each other's hearts, Yangyang told me he saw Sicheng texting you. Don’t worry he sucks at reading korean so wasn’t able to read the text.”

“There isn’t much to tell about me and Sicheng, we were having sex, now we’re not. He was in Korea now he’s in China, our dynamic is obviously going to change.” He could tell Donghyuck wanted to ask more but Mark wasn’t in the mood to encrypt his words, so he doubted he’d say much.

“The guy’s think there was more, Sicheng never-”

"Why is everyone so worried about how long Sicheng fucks someone? The guys are acting like he's the first omega to be open about his sex life, he's not. It's annoying to hear his own bandmates compare how long Sicheng fucked them for, like it's supposed to be some measure of how good they are in bed, like it means anything. Sure Sicheng likes sex, but its not okay to talk about him the way the hyungs do. I don't want to hear how he's in bed with different wolves of different sexes, it's disgusting for the guys to gossip about him in the way that they do and I'm tired of omegas being slutshamed for something an alpha would be celebrated for. “ Mark sighed, he would never be able to tell why society was fixated on wolves sex life, it was natural and someone shouldn’t be judge for it if it’s consentual. “I’m not mad at you Hyuck, I’m just tired of the members gossip.”

“It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me more, I won’t be mad, but if you want to talk about it you can, with me or Jisung. We won’t discuss it with anyone, you know how word travels around here.” 

“I do know.”

\--

Jisung and Donghyuck's relationship was revealed at Jisung’s birthday party. If it was done on purpose, Mark didn’t know. Dream (2019) and 127 were there and Mark didn’t see who kissed who but he turned towards the rest of the guys when the room got silent. It was a peck, it only lasted a few seconds, but the blush on Jisung’s cheeks was enough to tell everyone what they needed to know. Nobody commented and the rest of the party continued, granted a bit awkwardly, it looked like Jaemin wanted to comment but Mark gave him a look and Jaemin didn’t dare say anything.

Things weren’t too different, but the alpha’s tried not to be too close to Donghyuck now that they knew about Jisung. It wasn’t something the members mentioned, but everyone knew, Jisung and Donghyuck weren’t necessarily hiding it but they also weren’t flaunting their relationship. They held hands and kissed each other's cheeks when no one was looking, nothing too serious, but definitely out of the ordinary for Jisung. Mark was glad Jisung hadn’t ended the courting because they at least looked happy, if they actually were that was a whole different thing. 

Donghyuck was on suppressors, so his heat wouldn’t be a problem for a while, but he knew Jisung would still be worried and insecure, most omegas weren't on suppressors forever, only until they mated. That wouldn’t be happening anytime soon, at least not while they were still a relatively new group and Jisung was still in Dream and Donghyuck had graduated. The bond wasn’t meant for long distance relationships and that’s what it would become with Donghyuck traveling all over the world while Jisung stayed in Korea for most of the year, it wouldn’t work if they actually mated. They’d both be in pain when they were so far away and it wouldn’t be easy.

2020 brought a lot of changes, Jeno, Jaemin and Renjun were still up in the air, although it was rumored that 00 line including YangYang would be forming a unit, that or Jeno and Jaemin would join 127 and Renjun would join WayV. New dreamies were coming and Mark didn’t know who they were, most of the people he trained with weren’t trainees at SM anymore and adding new dreamies would either make or break Dream, he hoped it was the former. 

Chenle had presented as a beta, it wasn’t anything special, most beta’s presentation didn’t have ruts or heats, occasionally when they mated they’d develop one of the two to accommodate their mates, but most betas mated with betas. Chenle had gotten a fever and he developed a scent, it wasn’t strong like alphas and omegas tended to be. Everyone knew what it was but they took him to the doctor just in case they were actually wrong, he locked himself in his room when he came back. The managers could hear him crying and Mark had a suspicion that he knew why, but as always he kept his mouth shut, it wasn’t his place to speculate. 

Everything was changing, but Mark himself hadn't. He was in love with his best friend and would never act on it.

\---

Jisung was different, for once he wasn’t the youngest in Dream hence he wasn’t the youngest in NCT. Mark had met the new dreamies but it was just awkward for him, they were kids and he didn’t really know how to communicate with kids anymore. It made him feel old. Chenle and Jisung constantly looked like they had a headache all the time and Donghyuck thought the whole thing was amusing. 

Donghyuck had unofficially moved back into the Dream dorm, he was always there when they didn’t promote and sometimes even when they did. They shared a bed, that much he knew, but he still didn’t know much about their relationship other than the fact that they were still courting and Jisung was planning on asking Donghyuck to be his boyfriend. 

He could tell when Jisung did ask Donghyuck, something had visionally changed in Donghyuck, he omega’s skin glowed and if Mark didn’t know better, he’d think it was an I-just-had-sex-glow. It wasn’t, but it made Mark’s imagination run wild, imagining how Donghyuck would literally weep under him. He shook those thoughts whenever they came, they were inappropriate and disrespectful to the couple. 

Things were better for Mark, he’d been able to keep his mind off of Donghyuck whenever he wasn’t in his presence. Sicheng was back, they weren’t sleeping together, Mark would never initiate such a thing and Sicheng didn’t seem too interested. There were lingering touches between the two, but Sicheng had told Mark they shouldn’t mess around and Mark wasn’t going to disrespect his wishes. They were friends first and foremost and Mark enjoyed Sicheng’s company too much. 

Things took an interesting turn on the night 127’s comeback promotions ended, Donghyuck had kicked Jaehyun out of Mark and Jaehyun’s room. Donghyuck announced he wanted to get drunk, it wasn’t a good idea, Donghyuck always got too touchy and Mark didn’t know how he’d get Donghyuck off of him. Regardless he let Donghyuck hand him a bottle of soju and they got drunk as they watched a movie on Jaehyun’s laptop. At some point Mark stopped paying attention and he was looking at Donghyuck out of the corner of his eye, he was beautiful. Donghyuck had always been beautiful even before he presented, he was literal sunshine and it hurt to look because he wasn’t Mark’s. 

At some point Donghyuck had reached out for Mark’s hand, on a normal night, he would have ignored it, holding hands made him imagine a future with Hyuck and that wasn’t something he liked to do. But tonight, he allowed Donghyuck to hold his hand and felt his wolf purr in his chest, it made him happy to pretend that Donghyuck didn’t have a boyfriend. Donghyuck laid his head on Mark’s shoulder, Mark didn’t push him off, instead slightly leaning his head on Donghyuck. He would have thought Donghyuck fell asleep if he didn’t hear Donghyuck whisper something.

“What’d you say?” Mark whispered softly. Donghyuck lightly squeezed Mark’s hand.

“I like you hyung.” Mark froze, it took him a second to process what Donghyuck said and by the time he did Donghyuck had already detached himself and scrambled off the bed. Donghyuck looked like he was going to leave.

“Hyuck wait,” His back was turned to Mark and he could see Donghyuck slightly shake as he took a deep breath.

“For what Mark? You were never supposed to know. I’m dating Jisung for fucks sake, I’m not supposed to like two guys at once.” Mark was speechless and by the time he could even begin to gather his thoughts, Donghyuck was long gone and Jaehyun was shuffling back in. 

\---

Donghyuck birthday was awkward, for Mark at least, the new 00 line unit, the new dreamies and 127 were there. Mark hasn't spoken to Donghyuck since Donghyuck confessed and the fact that Donghyuck and Jisung were acting like a couple meant Jisung didn't know. For the first time in his life he felt like he should open his mouth and tell Jisung, not because he wanted Donghyuck for himself but because he thought Jisung deserved to know. Mark wasn't going to do it until he had a proper conversation with Donghyuck though, the situation involved him and it was only fair for Donghyuck to properly talk to him. 

He wasn't sure what to say to Donghyuck, he'd spent over a year fantasizing about Donghyuck and now that Donghyuck confessed he was lost. Donghyuck liked them both and what was Mark supposed to suggest, that he date both of them? That would only hurt Jisungs self-esteem and that was the last thing he wanted to do. 

The members had grown suspicious of Mark and Donghyuck, they were starting to call it the MarkHyuck summer fight of 2020. They weren't fighting, they just weren't talking and like the 2017 fight he didn't even know why they weren't talking. Sure Donghyuck had confessed, but if Donghyuck couldn't handle the consequences of his actions when he was drunk, then Donghyuck had no business drinking.

They weren't hateful towards each other unlike the 2017 fight, Mark was done trying to talk to Donghyuck when he was acting like a pup. He could tell Jisung was worried, he could see Jisung throw him worried glances whenever he was at the 127 dorm and he knew it was a matter of time before Jisung asked him what was going on. He wasn't sure if he'd tell Jisung what exactly happened, he had wanted to talk to Donghyuck first and seeing as Donghyuck refused he didn't know if it was appropriate to tell Jisung. 

“Haechan we need to talk,” He managed to catch Donghyuck when he was walking out of the bathroom. It was weird seeing him in the 127 dorm with Jisung.

“Don’t call me Haechan when we're not on camera, it's weird coming from you.” The other members usually switched between the two but Mark typically only called Donghyuck, Haechan when they were on camera.

“I’m going to keep calling you Haechan until you stop acting like a pup.”

“Then I'm not talking to you,” Donghyuck started walking away, but Mark had always been able to stop him with his words.

“You might want to, Jisung looks like he wants to talk to me and if he asks I'm going to tell him,” Donghyuck turned back around and pulled him into his and Doyoung’s room. 

“You wouldn’t dare,” Mark didn’t actually know if he would, but Donghyuck didn’t know that.

“I would, I’ve been trying to talk to you for a month and you’ve ignored me. I’ve never lied to Jisung and I’m not going to do it for you when you’re acting like this.”

“What do you want from me Mark, I said something I shouldn’t have, just let it go.”

“I can’t.” Mark had never been one to be selfish, he let others have what he wanted, but he didn’t know if he could live knowing he didn’t at least try to confess to Donghyuck.

“Mark why are you acting like this, why can’t you just forget about it.” Oh he wanted to, he wanted to forget that Donghyuck liked him when he was dating Jisung. It made things complicated in a way they shouldn’t have been if Mark had realized his feelings years ago when they were trainees.

“I’m in love with you.” Well shit, it wasn’t supposed to happen like this.

“You’re what?” Donghyuck’s eyes were big and Mark had the urge to run away and he would have if he knew he would have another opportunity to talk to Donghyuck. “You’re lying.”

“Why would I Hyuck?”

“It doesn’t make sense, you were the one helping Jisung, why would you do that if you loved me.” Mark was silent, he didn’t actually know, he could say some bullshit like that he wanted Donghyuck to be happy, but he hadn’t done it for Donghyuck, he’d done it for Jisung. “What's the point of you telling me?”

“What was the point of you telling me?” He fired back.

“I was drunk Mark, I didn’t do it on purpose. Why did you want to talk? It's not like we're resolving anything right now.” Mark hated the ‘I was drunk’ argument, if you had secrets that you knew you’d spill then you had no business getting drunk, simple.

“It's a matter of time before Jisung asks me what's wrong, I need to know what I'm going to tell him.”

“You can’t tell him about this, It will break him.” And it would, Jisung had spent months trying to believe that he was worthy of a simple relationship, that he didn’t have a reason to give up someone he wanted just because he wasn’t sexually interested. If he found out Donghyuck liked Mark it would make him think it was because he wasn’t alpha enough and that shouldn’t be true.

“Hyuck, he deserves to know, you can’t keep it a secret forever.” If it was up to Mark, he would have bottled his own feelings up and never told anyone, but now that he knew Donghyucks, he couldn’t.

“What do you want me to tell him, I’m in love with the both of you?” They heard a gasp from the door. Fuck.

“Jisung…” Donghyuck took a step towards the door.

“Don’t Haechan,” Jisung stepped into the room and closed the door, he stood by it looking at the two. “How long?”

“How long what?” This wasn’t at all how he wanted Jisung to find out, it was supposed to be planned, Mark didn’t even know what they were supposed to resolve if they talked.

“How long have you been cheating on me with Mark?” Mark hadn’t thought of that possibility, that Jisung would think they were having an affair. It wasn’t too crazy of an idea.

“I’ve never cheated Jisung, I wouldn’t do that to you.” He could tell Jisung didn’t believe Donghyuck, Mark probably wouldn’t have either.

“You told me you were fine without sex, that you didn’t need anybody else. Was it fun at least? Was it fun lying to me?” Tears were in Jisung’s eye and Mark was frozen, he should be backing up Donghyuck, but instead he let it seem like they had been caught red-handed, which they kind of had, but not in the way Jisung thought.

“Jisung-”

“I don’t want to hear it, have fun with Mark.” Donghyuck kicked Mark out of his room after Jisung left, how Mark was going to resolve any of this, Mark didn’t know.

\---

After the turn of events with Jisung, Mark didn’t have time to speak to Jisung, Super M had a comeback right after and Jisung had made himself scarce when Mark was still in Korea. He’d been in America for a month and he wasn’t sure how things would be when he came back. Donghyuck wasn’t in Dream anymore so it was likely that Jisung would have no problem avoiding him too, meaning things were probably the same or worse. He tried not to think about it for too long, he would be back soon enough and he would have to deal with it then.

Super M was interesting to say the least, half of the group was NCT which made it less awkward then having to debut in a group with acquaintances and strangers. His sunbaes treated him well, it was interesting to see them interact, they didn’t even act like they were much more famous and it was strange to say the least, overall he liked the group. It was honestly just a glorified NCT U line up and Mark liked referring to it that way, at least in his head, he didn’t know how his sunbaes would feel about being called NCT.

He was half expecting Donghyuck to be a mess and Jisung to be nowhere in sight when he came back, he was shocked to find the opposite. When he walked into the 127 dorm they were holding hands and Jisungs head was on Donghyuck's shoulder. If Yukhei hadn’t had his arm around his shoulders he would have frozen in front of the living room. The new dreamies were there and all Mark wanted to do was crawl into his bed and go to sleep.

He was a fool to think Donghyuck would choose him over Jisung, fuck, he didn’t even want Donghyuck to choose him over Jisung, but it still hurt. He spotted Sicheng standing by the hallway leading to the bedrooms and Mark asked if they could cuddle, Sicheng nodded.

It was nice to be the little spoon for once, most omegas only wanted to be the little spoon, and normally Mark would be fine with that, but Sicheng was taller and he really needed a hug. Sicheng took off his shirt and motioned for Mark to do the same, Mark hesitated, Sicheng laughed and said, “Not like that, skin to skin contact should help.” 

And it did, Sicheng rubbed his nuzzled against Mark’s scent glands and Mark felt calm. It was something they’d never done, it was risky to scent another wolf if you were close to a comeback or supposed to appear somewhere. Someone could smell the scent of oranges on Mark and realize Mark was supposed to smell like watermelons. It wasn’t guaranteed to start a scandal, but Sicheng hadn’t been truly active in 127 in more than a year, it would be strange for Mark to smell like Sicheng, people would think Sicheng was Mark’s omega and crazy rumors would be started.

At the moment, Mark didn’t care, Sicheng didn’t get out much when he was in Korea and Mark was on a break for at least two weeks. Mark turned around in Sicheng’s chest and scented Sicheng back, it comforted his alpha and was enough to calm him completely, at least for now. He could hear Chenle asking about Mark, Taeyong not so subtly suggesting that Mark and Sicheng were busy, Kun screeched that there were kids in the house and he could feel Sichengs chuckle course through him.

“They really think I’m an animal that would attack you with minors in the dorm,” He could hear the smile in Sichengs voice and it made him giggle.

“It’s not like they’d be able to smell it. They wouldn’t know unless we’re too loud.”

“True, but I have some dignity. I’d hate for one of the pups to see me down on my knees,” he knew Sicheng was kidding, they’d ended their friends with benefits situation and he knew Sicheng had something going on with Yukhei. Yukhei was nice, his only problem was he couldn't keep a secret to save his life and Sicheng liked to keep his life private. "Besides if Yukhei smelled it, he'd be pouting for weeks. He's probably still going to pout, he's been telling me he couldn't wait to see him since you guys left."

"How's that going?"

"I don't know, he's really sweet, but I don't know if he likes me like that. Do you think I should cut it off?"

"Maybe, depends have you guys…"

"That's the thing, with any other wolf, someone would have already made the move, but he seems almost like a virgin and I don't want to scare him off, if that makes sense. I don't know if I should tell him I like him. With you, it was because I wouldn't see you for months. But I'm gonna see him really often and I don't know how I'll face rejection." Interesting, Yukhei a virgin? Neither knew if that was true, but given Sicheng’s expertise it probably was.

"What about Yuta?" Sicheng laughed and that made Mark happy for many reasons.

"Honestly I'm over him, it's been so long and he never really did anything to really make up for what he said. He just acted like a puppy, still kinda does."

"Whatever happens with Yukhei, I hope you're happy, you deserve to be happy."

"You do too Mark."

"I'm not so sure about that.” He could feel Sicheng was done talking and honestly he was too, he was tired from the flight and sad from what he saw in the living room. He let his breath even out against Sicheng’s neck and his mind drift into unconsciousness. 

\---

"You promised me you wouldn't sleep with anyone," he could feel Sichengs silent laugh. He stayed still feeling like he was intruded even though Yukhei was the one in Mark’s bedroom.

"I didn't sleep with him, well I did, but not like that, he just needed a little comforting," Sicheng whispered back.

"I need some comforting," Yukhei was pouting, he could hear it in his voice. "Comfort me instead, I was in America for a month, I should get cuddles too."

"Wait your turn, there's enough of me for you too," Sicheng replied.

"I don't like other Alphas touching you." Well that’s possessive to say the least. Omegas did like that kind of thing, but only if they were actually interested and the alpha wasn’t actually toxic.

"Yukhei, you know how I feel about that kind of rhetoric, nobody owns me.” Mark loved omegas rights, took an elective in it in high school and everything.

"I know, but you told me we would cuddle when I came back and you're cuddling with Mark. Mark should have waited his turn." That was actually interesting, Yukhei hadn’t mentioned his plans and he was the type to never shut up about this kind of thing. He talked about the fact Jungwoo kissed his cheek for a month, it was honestly annoying.

"He should have, but you'll get more time if you wait, you have to be a good boy." He could hear Yukhei whine and it took everything in Mark not to burst out laughing. He hears the door close and Sicheng whispers he's gone.

"He totally likes you hyung, I've never heard him be that disgusting."

"Of course you haven’t, yall act like closeted frat bros when you see eachother, he would never be sweet towards you.”

"Hey! We do not." Did they?!? Mark didn’t really know, he felt like his IQ dropped whenever he was around Yukhei, not because Yukhei was dumb, he wasn’t, Yukhei was actually a really smart guy, but because they tended to do stupid things.

"Yes you do, yall say no homo too much." Shit, he actually did. It made him cringe thinking about it, nobody should say no homo, it just made things awkward.

"I don't like Alphas." Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t. He never really thought about, he’d never been one to really like anyone all that often, he’d only liked two people in his life. Yerim, who ended up presenting as a beta, but was unpresented when he dated her and Donghyuck who was an omega.

"What about Jisung?"

"What about him?" Mark wasn’t liking where this was going.

"You've spent so much time thinking about Donghyuck, that you forgot the obvious solution to your problems," Sicheng said, like it was completely obvious what he was thinking

"And what's that?" Mark asked.

"Date both.” That’s probably the worst idea he's ever heard.

"What? I don't even like Alphas, why would I date Jisung." He couldn’t even get Donghyuck to date him how he was going to get a whole alpha to date him?

"Mark you better than anyone know sexuality is a social construct. Forget Jisung is an Alpha for a second, do you like him?"

"I don't know I’ve never thought of him like that." It was a crazy suggestion but yet he didn’t find himself opposed.

“Well just think about it honey, because I don't see you being added to the equation otherwise.” Did Mark want to be added to their relationship? Maybe, maybe not. He just wanted to be happy.

\---

He’d been avoiding Jisung and Donghyuck, whereas before Jisung and Donghyuck were avoiding him. He didn't know what to expect when he came back to Korea, but them acting like a normal couple was most definitely not it and as much as he wanted their happiness, Mark didn't want to see them. 

He was heartbroken, Mark realized, before he could still hope and dream because nobody had told him he couldn't anymore. But now that Donghyuck and Jisung had acted like they didn’t know Mark’s feelings, he couldn’t live in his headcanons that Donghyuck would date Mark and Jisung in the future. It scared Mark, he had now realized he had been in love with Donghyuck since he met him, that what he used to think was hate was really him not being able to process his feelings and he didn’t know how he would let go of something like that. 

He was tired of the whole thing, he just wanted to distract himself from thinking that whenever Donghyuck would disappear that he was probably with Jisung. It wasn’t any of his business and at this point he just wished that the knowledge didn’t affect him, he just wanted to distract himself with a pretty omega, so when Mina asked him if he was free to help with her heat, he gladly accepted. They were friends now, neither really lingering on their past feelings and Mark really needed to get laid. 

His manager wasn’t opposed to the idea, he just warned him to not get carried away and Mark knew he wouldn’t, wolves only got carried if they had strong feelings for the other person and as much as Mark liked her, his feelings weren’t romantic. Mark took the week off and when he returned he felt good, he knew the others were hyper aware of what Mark had been doing for the past week, he could tell by their knowing glances, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. The sex was good and he hadn’t thought about Donghyuck the entire time he was with Mina. He had decided that he would stop avoiding Donghyuck and Jisung, he was ready to let go and it took too much effort to effectively avoid them, they were happy with each other and it was time Mark finally moved on. 

\---

Moving on was easier said than done, Mark lived with Donghyuck and they were currently in the middle of promotions. He had to see Donghyuck whenever 127 did anything and they were always doing something. They were back to being friendly but they didn’t talk to each other outside of a group setting or if they didn’t need to. The fans definitely noticed, but none of the higher ups had mentioned it so Mark felt he was in the clear, at least for now. 

Things were different but at the same time the same, Mark was very much in love still but he had allowed himself to open his eyes to other people. A few wolves had slipped their numbers in his sandwich and he had texted some of them but he didn’t feel any geniune connections with them and some just wanted to fuck and Mark did have sex with some of them. 

Mark still wasn’t a very sexual person but he at least felt good after he fucked a pretty wolf, Sicheng had somehow heard about his endeavors and was worried for him. Mark had never been one to drown his worries and feeling with sex and he understood why it was concerning, but Mark needed to distract himself from the fact that it had been five months since Donghyuck had confessed and three since he had been officially rejected and he was still very much in love with Donghyuck.

He no longer had the wet dreams about Donghyuck instead now he had dreams where Donghyuck was his. He often woke up with tears streaming down his face and sometimes Jaehyun would pull him into his arms softly asking what was wrong. He never answered Jaehyun but Jaehyun understood it was too personal and Mark wasn’t ready to talk. 

He dreading seeing Sicheng because he knew that the second he got him alone, Sicheng would make him talk and usually Mark wouldn’t mind, he loved Sicheng, but he honestly didn’t want to talk about it and knowing that Sicheng’s love life was more successful than his made him bitter for some unknown reason. Yukhei had told him he wanted to court Sicheng and he knew that was a big deal for both of them, Sicheng typically wasn’t one to settle down and Yukhei only committed to things he thought were serious and worth it. 

He was happy for both of them Sicheng being one of his closest friends and Yukhei being one of his best friends but he was sad knowing that he had a part in his own misery, if only he had realized he was in love with Donghyuck when they were trainees things would have been different. Mark wanted that but at the same time, he didn’t know if he would have ever been able to “steal” Donghyuck away from Jisung.

Mark had always known Jisung liked Donghyuck, and Mark didn’t think knowing earlier would have made a difference because he wouldn’t have been able to hurt Jisung’s feelings. He knows most people wouldn’t hesitate when it came to love but he had always been one that didn’t mind disregarding his feelings if someone else was happy and Jisung was happy and that’s what Mark told himself.

Even though he wasn’t avoiding Jisung, he hardly ever saw him, now that Donghyuck wasn’t in Dream, SM was free to promote the Dreamies whenever they wanted and not have to wait until 127 was even in Korea. He could tell Donghyuck wanted to speak but he didnt see how talking would make anything better. Donghyuck made his choice and talking would only reaffirm that yes Donghyuck may have had feelings for them both but Mark wasn’t his first choice and never would be. 

Sicheng came back and like Mark suspected he had his own opinions on the matter.

“You need to talk to both of them, together. I only know what Renjun tells me about Jisung, but I know Donghyuck wants to talk to you and you’re being too stubborn to even hear him out,” Sicheng said.

“What's the point, there is nothing left to say. Should I just let him rip my heart out officially?”Mark asked, he honestly just tired of the whole situation

“I don’t think he will,” Sicheng replied.

“Thats easy for you to say, you’re getting your brains fuck by someone that actually like you.” He knew it was a low blow and uncalled for but in the moment Mark didn’t care.

“I’m gonna ignore the fact that what you just was extremely degrading and uncalled for, because I love you Mark and also because you know damn well we don’t have sex.” Mark felt bad immediately after he said it, but he just wanted someone else to feel a little bit of his pain. “Mark I really think you should hear them out, you never know, maybe they’ll say something that piques your interest.”

\---

He didn’t have to seek out Jisung and Donghyuck because the next day he went into his room and both of them were waiting on his bed. He almost walked straight back out, but Jaehyun pushed him further into the room and gave him a look that told him he didn’t have much of a choice. Of course Jaehyun would betray him in favor of Donghyuck. They were silent for a while, Mark not really being ready to get his heartbroken in his own room and as surprising as it was, Jisung was the one who spoke first.

“You’ve been hard to get a hold of hyung, we’ve been wanting to talk for a while.”

“Jisung I’m really sorry, I never intended to act on my feelings and I want you to know that I would never betray you,” Jisung opened his mouth to speak but Mark cut him off. “If you’re not mad, I’d like for you not to say anything, I know he’s not mine, I don’t want to hear you say it. If you’re mad you can beat up if you want.”

“Mark, first of all you know damn well I’m no one's possession,so stop calling me Jisungs. Second of all, we're here to give you a proposition.” Mark tried not to get excited, he knew what he wanted Donghyuck to say but he had never been an optimist when it came to his own happiness. 

“We’ve been thinking, I'm not opposed to the idea.” He expected Jisung to continue speaking but when it became apparent Jisung wasn’t going to, he spoke instead.

“What idea?”

“Two alphas. Together.” His hands felt clammy, was Jisung implying what he thought he was? 

“I'm not sure if I’m following.” He squeezed his eyes shut, he didn’t want to hope because the next thing that came out of either of their mouths could be his worst nightmare. 

“What Jisung is trying to say is that he wants to try.” Mark was confused, neither one was being clear and he definitely didn’t want to jump to any conclusions.

“I need you guys to spell out whatever you’re saying because I’m not sure I'm grasping the situation.”

“We want to try a relationship with all three of us.” Mark felt his eyes tear up and his heart flutter, he couldn’t help but smile, Sicheng was always right.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed! Thank you for reading!


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